Amid Gyanvapi Masjid controversy, Hindus now demand to pray at Karnataka’s Srirangapatna mosque
As the controversy around the Gyanvapi Masjid site is intensifying in Varanasi, the Hindu community in Karnataka has approached the Mandya district administration, seeking permission to offer prayers inside the Srirangapatna mosque in the city.
The community from Karnataka’s Mandya has claimed that the mosque in question has been built on the remains of a Hanuman Temple and thus, Hindus reserve the right to pray inside the premises.
The Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna, Karnataka was built in the late 1700s under Tipu Sultan’s rule, is about 120 km from Bengaluru, and also runs a Madrassa. The mosque is a heritage site that is being maintained by the Archeology Survey of India (ASI).
The Mandya Deputy Commissioner was approached by Narendra Modi Vichar Manch state secretary CT Manjunath, who was seeking permission for the Hindu community in the area to offer prayers inside the Jamia Masjid in Srirangapatna.
The memorandum submitted by Manjunath states, “Documentary evidence of Tipu Sultan writing to a ruler in Persia, admitting that there was a Hanuman temple before the mosque was built; along with Hindu inscriptions on the pillars and walls support our stand. We request the administration to allow Hindus to offer prayers at the mosque.”
This comes just as the controversy in Varanasi surrounding the Gyanvapi Masjid has reached new heights in Uttar Pradesh, with the Supreme Court set to deliver a key verdict in the case today, May 17.
A petition was filed by a group of women in the Varanasi court, seeking permission to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque, claiming that it had a temple inside the premises. The Varanasi court, in turn, ordered a videography survey of the site.
Now, the petitioners have claimed that there was a Shivling found inside a well in the Gyanvapi masjid, intensifying the claims of a temple inside the premises. The Supreme Court is set to hear the matter today, one day after the survey of the site was complete.